1A North Canyon Super Regionals: Young St. Michael squad fall to Basis in third-place game

FLAGSTAFF – The Flagstaff Basis Yetis shot exceptionally well to down St Michaels on Saturday behind the spectacular play from senior Jack Engelthaler, who poured in 40 points.

Basis drained a dozen treys while romping past the Cardinal boys team, 78-44, in the third-place game of the 1A North Canyon Super Regionals held at Flagstaff High School.

“That’s a good shooting team,” St. Michael coach Joshua Thompson said of the Yetis. “They shot lights out today and I really think it took a toll on our morale, and we just couldn’t fight back.”

Early on the Cardinals played on even terms with Basis as the two squads traded buckets in the opening quarter.

Basis took a 19-18 lead behind the 6’2” guard Engelthaler, who scored nine of the Yeti’s points.

St. Michael was paced by sophomore guard Craig Yazzie as he scored eight early points, which included a pair of treys, to keep the Cardinals within striking distance.

The Yetis, however, continued to shoot at a torrid pace, especially Engelthaler as he put in another 16 markers in the second stanza. In that quarter alone, he outscored the Cardinals by four points as Basis took a 42-30 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Basis sharpshooter picked up where he left off, scoring an additional 15 for his grand total of 40 points that included five treys.

“That kid can play,” Thompson said of Engelthaler. “He usually puts up big numbers so we knew that he could go off like that. When we first played them, he had 42 points and tonight he had 40 again.

“He was hard to figure out.”

Engelthaler wasn’t the only one to cause headaches for the young Cardinal team. The Yetis also received 16 points from freshman Lincoln Bradford and 10 markers from sophomore Daniel Quiroz.

St. Michael, meanwhile, secured a team-best 11 points from sophomore Ryan Legah while senior Osceola Denny and Yazzie both added 10.

“Basis pretty much humbled us,” the St. Michael coach said.

Nonetheless, Thompson felt that their semifinal game earlier Saturday against El Capitan Academy took a lot out of his squad.

The Cardinals dropped a 54-42 decision to the eventual super region champions.

“We really played a good game with El Cap,” the St. Michael coach said. “You know, they’ve been really tearing up teams. We stayed aggressive with them, and the boys played really well.

“I think going into the Basis game my boys were tired,” he added.

In that semifinal contest, Denny finished with 17 points and Legah added 15 with three treys.

“They were big, strong and quicker but we got a couple of their guys in foul trouble,” Thompson said of El Capitan.

With no invite to the 1A playoffs, the Cardinals finished the season at 8-17 overall, which included a 4-2 mark in 1A North Region play.

“There were a lot of ups and downs,” Thompson said of the season. “We did lose a lot of games, but a lot of them were by six, eight points. There were a couple of games that got out of hand, but on the same note we were rebuilding this year.”

With only three players set to graduate this spring, the future looks bright for a St. Michael team that returns seven lettermen next season.

“We’re excited for next season,” Thompson said. “We have a lot of sophomores coming back. We’ll have to go through the process of building that trust with one another, but it looks very encouraging.”

Of the seniors on his team, Jae Ahasteen and Denny are two key members that Thompson has to replace.

“We’re going to miss them,” he said, while noting that Denny has made huge strides in the past two seasons.

“He’s only played organized basketball for two years,” the St. Michael coach said. “I wish I had him for all four years. He just improved a lot during the offseason.

“He had a long difficult process to get where he’s at,” he added. “Two summers ago, he dislocated his hip, and he did a lot of stuff on his own to get better. He really encouraged his teammates and he’s a good leader. He’s like a poster child for what a coach wants.”

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